Gil Kalai’s blog

Anat Lotan: Who is Gina I

Several people asked me to explain who is Gina, the hero of my book “Gina says: Adventures in the Blogosphere String War.” There was a chapter written by Anat Lotan about who Gina is. And in view of the comments Anat wrote a new chapter about Gina. Here are two posts with the two chapters.

Who is Gina?

As seen by Anat Lotan

Perhaps it’s time to say a few words about our fearless Master of Ceremonies in cyberspace – Gina.

35 years of age, Gina is of Greek and Polish descent. Born in the quaint island of Crete, she currently resides in the USA, in quiet and somewhat uneventful Wichita, Kansas. Gina has a B.Sc in Mathematics (from the University of Athens, with Honors), and a Master’s Degree in Psychology (from the University of Florence, with Honors).

Currently in-between jobs (her last job was working with underprivileged children), she has a lot of free time on her hands, which gives her ample opportunities to roam the blogosphere.

Forever the proud Grecian, Gina is the happy owner of Papa, her beloved pet tomcat, named after “that dear man”, Christos Dimitriou Papakyriakopoulos, whom she has been an ardent fan of ever since she first learned about him in high school. (See Chapter 7.)

Leaving behind Greece and Europe was not an easy decision to make. Still, Gina was certain that moving to the US would be a life changing experience, which, if nothing else, would certainly do wonders for her less than perfect English.

Possessing an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Gina is a voracious reader and reads everything from scientific textbooks to People Magazine. She also enjoys writing, and keeps a daily journal. Since moving to the US, she has attended various journalism courses, eager to pursue her life long dream of becoming a professional writer. Until this dream is realized, however, she finds pleasure in expressing her musings in the blogosphere.

Gina is fascinated by both people and phenomena – the more complicated and controversial the better. An avid participant in the blogosphere, she has a genuine desire to understand the topics at hand, but, at the same time, being a fan of psychology, she would also like to investigate the character of the people who write blogs. She is even contemplating starting a blog of her own, but there’s simply so much she’d like to say, she fears she wouldn’t know where to begin, let alone end. Writing a blog, however, would certainly help her improve her English, which Gina knows is still not quite up to standard. She is very inquisitive – a bit too inquisitive, according to some people. At times, her obvious tendency not to let go of a question or issue until she is absolutely satisfied can be quite exasperating. Gina is not oblivious to this annoying feature; it was actually one of the main reasons she decided not to pursue a career as a psychologist. Gina, in fact, likes to think of herself as a modern day Lois Lane, who has yet to find her superman…any candidates???